10/31/2004 : Farc : "we do not trust Uribe"

10/30/2004 : Colombia offers rebels prisoner swap

Colombia's hardline government said Friday it is willing to meet with members of the country's main leftist rebel group in an unprecedented offer aimed at freeing dozens of rebel-held hostages, including three Americans.

Before any face-to-face meeting can take place, however, the rebels must agree to swap 15 hostages for 15 rebels jailed on minor charges, said Peace Commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo.

10/29/2004 : Ingrid Betancourt will not get the Sakharov Prize

10/28/2004 : Two and a half million children are exploited in Colombia

10/27/2004 : Uribe rejects FARC's proposal

10/26/2004 : Colombia Rebel Hostage Tape Pressures Government

Colombian Marxist rebels kept up pressure on the government to release imprisoned guerrillas, releasing a videotape of 12 former congressmen they kidnapped 30 months ago and want to swap for their comrades.

10/25/2004 : Ingrid Betancourt nearly died while on hunger strike.

The former presidential candidate in Colombia, Ingrid Betancourt, held hostage by FARC, nearly died during the course of a hunger strike when in captivity. Her mother Yolanda Pulecio announced this on Saturday last, 23 October 2004.

Mrs Pulecio stated to AFP that she had received a telephone call, the day before, from a person who had met a 'doctor' attending FARC rebels.

10/24/2004 : Ingrid Betancourt sequestred for nearly 1,000 days

10/23/2004 : Colombia may extradite FARC donors from Denmark

Colombia says it may extradite members of a Denmark-based group for donating $8,500 to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, the largest rebel group in the country.

Rebellion Association spokesperson Cristin Lungar told Colombian radio on Friday the contribution was made in protest of Denmark's new anti-terrorism laws.

Colombian government officials often express anger about what they say is romantic but ill-informed support that rebel groups enjoy in some leftist European circles, especially in Scandinavia.

10/22/2004 : European Parliament gather to defend Colombian Union leader

10/20/2004 : FARC Willing to Converse With the Church

The illegal armed group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) has recently declared that it is willing to meet with church officials, inside or outside of Colombia, in order to come to a humanitarian agreement to free the victims of their kidnapping.

10/17/2004 : If Elected President, Kerry Would Strive for Social Development

Peter Romero, the Latin American advisor for the presidential candidate, confirmed that any financial aid from the U.S. to Colombia would be contingent upon their respect for human rights.

Romero added that this would not affect the military aid that the U.S. provides to Colombia. He also criticized the Bush administration for concentrating their efforts on terrorism and business. Finally, he sustained that the country “is ready to dig beneath the surface and face the causes of the conflict.”

10/14/2004 : 60 to 70% of Colombian women victims of violence

Amnesty International's report, through testimonies collected by members of the organization during several visits to the country, exposes the human rights violations committed by all the parties to the armed conflict against thousands of women and girls on a daily basis.

All the armed groups – the security forces, paramilitaries and the guerrilla – have sexually abused or exploited women, both civilians or their own combatants, in the course of Colombia's 40-year-old conflict, and sought to control the most intimate parts of their lives. By sowing terror and exploiting and manipulating women for military gain, bodies have been turned into a battleground. The serious abuses and violations committed by all the parties to the armed conflict remain hidden behind a wall of silence fuelled by discrimination and impunity. This in turn exacerbates the violence that has been the hallmark of Colombia's internal armed conflict. It is women and girls who are the hidden victims of that conflict.

10/13/2004 : US Congress votes for more troops in Colombia

The number of U.S. military personnel in Colombia will double, to 800, in the coming months, based on a weekend vote in the U.S. Congress.

The action was welcomed by President Alvaro Uribe's government for its fight against Marxist rebels but condemned by human rights groups, who warned of a sharp escalation in the conflict. The 2005 U.S. Defense Department authorization act, approved Saturday by Congress, also permits the Bush administration to increase the number of U.S. citizens working for private contractors in Colombia to 600 from 400.

10/8/2004 : Government Willing to Free Captured Guerrillas

The high commissioner of peace, Luis Carlos Restrepo, said that there has “never been talk of an exchange or humanitarian agreement” rather a unilateral decision by the Colombian government that would free captured insurgents being held by the state.

10/7/2004 : Ingrid Betancourt Finalist for Sakharov Prize

The Belarusian Association of Journalists, the Chechen activist Natalia Estemirova, the Russian Sergui Covalet, and the ex-presidential candidate of Colombia Ingrid Betancourt have been selected as finalists for the Sakharov Prize for Human Rights for the year 2004. Since 1988 the Sakharov Prize, named for a Soviet dissident, has been awarded by the European Parliament to people or organizations from anywhere in the world for their defense of human rights.

10/5/2004 : Shocking revelations

The influential Colombian newsmagazine Semana has recently divulged some audiocassettes that show how the auto defenses and the mafia are taking over the paramilitary forces in Colombia. The secret negotiations have recently been aired.

The current Colombian president Alvaro Uribe is offering the auto defenses all of the authority of his position to avoid their extradition and a possible trial by the International Criminal Court (ICC). These are only two of the topics of discussion from the last meeting between the Colombian government and the United Auto Defenses of Colombia (AUC) in which Salvatore Mancuso decided to not take part.

10/4/2004 : The Paramilitaries of Colombia

A dose of fear seems to be running through the veins of the political elite in Colombia. Now, more than ever, people are starting to become worried not about the existence of the self-defense groups rather for the side effects of their elimination.

10/3/2004 : The Hidden Truths of Uribe

When the current president Alvaro Uribe assumed his role as chief executive, 60% of the population of Colombia (40 million) was living in poverty. The country was in a horrid position due to the brutal civil war that has been destroying Colombia for over four decades.

Two years later, the grueling war is now accompanied by an economic catastrophe; a possible deficit of 10% and a public debt of 50% of the GNP is not good news for anybody. Moreover, the government is falling apart, poverty is on the rise, as is illiteracy, high violence and the ever-growing presence of paramilitary groups.

10/2/2004 : Two Youths Kidnapped in Southern Colombia

An eight and a thirteen year old boy were kidnapped by an armed group in the southern city of Orito, Putumayo. The police and families also reported that another man was killed.

At lest 1,632 minors have been kidnapped since 1999, 403 of which are still held in captivity, according to figures from private groups that provide assistance to victims of the kidnapping.

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